Improvement in sewing-machines



l Urrn STATES Aram erica.

JOHN HANLON, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known 'that I, JOHN HANLON, of Newark, in the county of Essex andState of New Jersey,have invented a new andA useful Improvement inSewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilledin the art to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specitication, in which-Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, of a sewing-machinemade according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a front view, partly insection, as following the bent line .r of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a separateview of the needle-bar and cam-grooves, by which motion is given to itfollowing the line y of Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a sepa-rate view of the gearsby means of which motion is communicated from the needle-shaft to theshuttle-shaft, taken on the sectional line z of Fig. l. Fig.'5 is across-section of the face-plate and needle-bar taken on the line y ofFig. 2. Figs. 6 and 7 are detailed views, which illustrate the mode ofmaking the shuttle. Fig. 8 is aface view of the shuttle. Fig. 9 is alongitudinal axial section of the shuttle, taken on the linez of Fig. 8.Fig. 10 is a side view ofthe shuttle. Fig. ll is a longitudinalsectional view of the tension device.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

Thisimprovement in sewing-machines consists of several particulars, oneof which relates to the take-up another relates to means forcommunicating motion to the shuttle-driving shaft; another relates tothe construction of the face-plate which holds the needle-bar 5 anotherrelates to the cam-groove on the needle-bar, by means of which itreceives motion; another relates to the shuttle.

The machine which I have here represented, and by the' aid of which Ipropose to illustrate my invention, is of the sort known as ashuttie-machine; but the several features of my invention, with .theexception of the shuttle and the means for driving it, can be applied tomachines of other kinds.

E designates the needle-bar. It receives its reciprocating motions froma crank-pin, N, on the disk b, working in a cam-groove, c, formed on itsinner face. Hitherto this groove has of noise and jar, because inproportion as the width of the groove increased beyond the widthrequired to receive the crank-p1n,1n the sameproportion would itcease towork smoothly and easily. I have provided for this difculty by makingthe groove adjustable, so as to enable the operator to make compensationfor its wear. I have accomplished this part of my invention in theexample here given by making the bottom and top of the groove inseparate parts or pieces separately secured to the needle-bar.

F designates the top part, and F the bottom part, the letter jdesignating the space which separates their edges. The shape of thegroove c is formed by the shapes which are given to the upper side ofthe part F and the lower side ofthe part F. As those sides, or theperiphery ofthe crank-pin, are worn away such wear is compensated for bybringing the said parts nearer to each other until the space j is takenup, when the adjustment may be still further continued by tiling off theopposing edges of the parts. To enable' this adjustment to'be made theparts F F should be secured to the needle-bar by screws passing throughelongated holes cut in the parts FF. The part F is continued upwardabove the top of the needle-bar, where a loop, F2, is made in` it toreceive the lever A of the take-up, which is thus drawn down by eachdescent of the needle-bar. This arm A is hinged at l to the top of astandard, D, which rises from the upper bracket, p, of the needle-shaftarm a.

A is the short arm of the take-up lever. It is pierced with numerousholes to receive one end of a coiled spring, C, whose other end i's heldin one of the holes of a fixed arm,B, which extends from the standard Dbackward and parallel with the plane of the arm A.

When the lever A is pulled down by the descent of the needle-bar the armA is raised toward the level of the fixed arm B, and thereby tension isput on the spr/ing G. When the lever A is released by therising of theneedlebar the tension of the spring operates to raise the lever to thetop of the loop F2. The action or strength of the spring is increasedand diminished according as its ends are placed in the outer or innerholes of the arms A and B.

The needle-bar is held to its place against the ends of the brackets p pby plates I I', which are set outside of the needle-bar and secured tothe ends of said brackets by screws which pass through holes in saidplates elongated horizontally to permit them to be moved .toward andaway from each other, as may be desired. This elongation ot' the holesfor the screws is seen in Fig. 5.

The letters 71. t' designate clamps which are interposed between theplates and the heads of the screws, one being placed at the top and theother at the bottom of the plates. These clamps may be dispensed with,if desired, and the screws be applied directly to the plate. Theseplates are joined to each other by a tongue and groove, (see Fig. 5,)the object ot' which is to enable the operator to make compensation forthe wearing away of the plates by the needle-bar by moving the plateslaterally toward each other, and also to provide a more convenient waythan has heretofore been used for securing the needlebar in its place.It will be observed that the needle-bar, (see Fig. 5 and also Fig. 3,)is partially sunk into the ends of the brackets p19, and that shouldersq q are made on the inner faces of the plates, between which thatportion of the needle-bar which is not sunk in the brackets is confined.The plates I I thus form an adjustable holder for the needle-bar,whereby the bar can be properly secured with ease, and whereby as itwears loose it can be easily and quickly adjusted without the necessityof removing any of the parts.

It will be observed that the pressure-bar J is sunk within the face ot'the plate l. It is elevated so as to bring its foot olf from thecloth-bed by means ot' a lever, L, pivoted to the plate I, and it isbrought and held down by a coiled spring, K, one ot' whose ends islixedin the plate and the other in one of a series ot holes in thepressure-bar.

G is a tension-arm lixed to the clamp h and extending sidewise therefromtoward the left. It may, however, be fixed to any other adjacent partot' the machine instead. A button, k, is formed on its end, and the armis reduced in diameter near its end for a little distance up to theplace g, which designates a taper thatk swells until it coincides withthe diameter of the rest of the arm.

The outer and smaller end ot' the arm Gr carries a cap, H, through thecenter of which the arm passes. The cap is held upon the arm by means ofthe button k, which is received in a countersink, r, through one side ofwhich is a perforation, f, for the passage of the thread. A groove iscarried along the outside of the cap from the said perforation to itsright-hand end, to receive the strand which comes through theperforation on its way to the needle. The right-hand end of the centralopening in the cap through which the arm G passes is slightlycountersunk, so as to tit the taper or swell g on said arm, Vwhich swellis at such a distance from the button 7c as to allow the cap to revolveon the arm without coming in contact with the swell. When, however, thecap is moved toward the right hand it strikes the swell and becomes fastby reason of frictional contact. When it is desired to put increasedtension on the thread the cap is drawn toward the left away from theswell g and then rotated until the thread has been wound as often as isdesired about the arm G, and then pushed toward the right until itengages again with the swell and becomes fast on the arm.

The driving pulley or crank is applied to the needle-shaft s, whichrevolves within the arm a, and is extended through and beyond the standm to enable the driving-power to be applied to it. The stand m alsocontains a short shaft, t, placed directly beneath the needleshaft s anddriven by it through the agency ot' gear-wheels O 0, tixed on saidshafts. The hinder end of shaft tprojects beyond the stand and carries acrank-wheel, P, to a pin on which the pitman Q is attached. The lowerend ot' the pitman is connected to the end ot' an arm, R, h'xed to therock-shaft S, which is below the cloth-bed, and extends beneath ittoward the front ot' the machine. The arm R is longer than the radius ofthe crank-wheel P, and therefore it receives a vibrating motion from therevolution ot' said wheel.

The shuttle-driverTis tixed to the rock-shaft S, its upper part beingformed with two arms of ashape suitable to hold the heel and shoulder ofthe shuttle between them, so as to be able to drive it back and forth,the shuttle being sustained upon a bar, l, along the outside of whichthe driver T moves.

Fig. 2 designates a plate set vertically across the machine, and whichseparates the t'eedin gdevices (not here shown) from the shuttle. Theface of the shuttle moves along the said plate 2. i

The construction of the parts here shown for driving the shuttle securessimplicity ot' construction and operation, and the shuttle receives onlyso much motion as is necessary to bring it through the loop of theneedle-thread when moving in one direction and to clear the path of theneedle on its return.

The shuttle U contains a bobbin, V, which is free to revolve on an axle,X, placed horizontally in the shuttle. This axle extends upward from thebottom ot' asocket, W. (Seen in Figs. 8 and 9.) rIhe thread from thebobbin is passed out through a hole, a, in the wall of the socket W,whence it goes through the opening y in the shuttle directly to theseam, or else it is carried around the sides ofthe socket W once or moreif tension is to be put upon the shuttle-thread. The openin g y in theshuttle is in the nature of a circumferential passage about the walls ofthe socket, as indicated in Figs. 9 and l0. The manner of making theshuttle is illustrated in Figs. 6, 7, and 12, where thelettercdesignates a block of metal through which a hole, d, is drilled. Thishole is intersected by a slot, 4, the length of the slotbeing greaterthan the diameter of the said hole. This slot is shown in Fig. l2, andin Fig. 6 it is seen in dotted outline. This sl )t may bein a horizontalplane or in a plane slightly oblique to the face of the shuttle, as seenin Fig. l0, wherethe lettery designates the line of the slot. A cupwhich is to form the socket W, and having a pin therein to form the axleX, is next driven into the hole d. The block c may then be shaped andfinished to the form to be given to the shuttle, the heel and sides ofthe shuttle being made to intersect the slot 4, whereby that slot isexposed on three sides; but it remains covered over on the side towardthe toe. The letter y designates the passage around the socket orbobbin-holder W, which is formed by means of the slot 4. The peripheryof one of the heads of the bobbin is provided With a spring whichprotrudes from a peripherical groove made in said head and bears againstthe inside of the socket W, thereby producing friction for the purposeof holding the bobbin still While there is no strain on its thread, soas to prevent the unwinding and delivery of its thread until it isneeded. This spring will also have a tendency to keep the bobbin fromslipping endwise out of its socket.

The bobbin is also kept from moving endwisel by reason of the directionin which its thread is drawn away from it, the deliveryaperture t beingopposite to the highest part of the bobbin and opening into that part ofthe groove y which is farthest from the face of the shuttle. It isevident that the effect of this arrangement will be to draw the bobbinconstantly up in the socket W while there is any strain on its thread.

The needle is secured to its bar in a novel manner, which willbenextdescribed. A screwbolt, 7, which passes through thelower end ofthe needle-bar, has a hole through its body, such hole being in linewith grooves 5 on the inner face of the head ofthe screw. The head ofthe screw 7 is received in a countersink, 6, in the needle-bar when itsbody is passed through the needle-bar, so that; its outside is flushwith the bar. Grooves 5 are cut in the needle-bar above and below thecountersink, said grooves being coincidentwith the grooves in the headof the screw. When the screwis passed through the needle-bar a needlemay be passed upward along the grooves 5 and through the body of thescrew, and be clamped between the head of the screw and the needlebar bymeans of a nut, 8. The needle is thus fixed securely in the grooves andreleased therefrom merely by tightening and loosening the nut Havingthus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent- 1. The arrangement of the lever A, having its perforatedshort arm A behind the fulcrum l, the xed perforated arm B, the springO, and standard D, as herein described and represented.

. 2. The described arrangementof the needlebar E, parts F Ff, forforming the adjustable groove c, the disk b, crank-pin N, anddrivingshaft s.

3. Securing the needle-bar in place by means of plates whose adjacentfaces are joined by a tongue and groove, the needle-barbeing guidedpartly by recesses made in the end of the brackets p p and partly byshoulders on the said plates, substantially as shown.

4. The manner here shown or" driving the shuttle rock-shaft, to wit, bymeans of the gearwheels O O', short shaft t, crank-wheel P, pitman Q,and vibrating arm R, as described.

5. The combination of the shuttle U, bobbin V, socket W, axle X, andopening or groove y, said parts being constructed in the manner and forthe purpose herein specified.

JOHN HANLON. Witnesses:

J. VAN SAN'rvoRD, THEO. IUsoL.

